Star profile

Wezen

Delta Canis Majoris · Canis Major

Highly luminous star

3D likeness based on its real data · class F · ~6,500 K

What is Wezen

Wezen, from the Arabic for «the heavy one», is a yellow supergiant set in Canis Major, some 1,607 light-years from the Earth, distant even by the stellar standards of its kind. Its name describes with surprising accuracy what modern astronomers confirmed centuries later: a vast, slow star of overwhelming mass and luminosity sustained over long ages. The light reaching a European observer tonight left the star while the Visigothic kingdoms still ruled almost the entire Iberian peninsula, and the old Roman roads were just beginning to fade under the undergrowth.

Where it is and when to see it

Wezen lies in the southern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is January, when it culminates around midnight.

From London it culminates about 12° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 23° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 82° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere south of 64° N.

It ranks no. 3 in brightness among the 90 stars of Canis Major in our catalogue. To find it, start from Sirius, the brightest: it lies about 11° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 1,600 years ago.

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Astronomical data for Wezen

Constellation: Canis Major
Apparent magnitude: 1.83
Distance: 1606.9 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 107.098° · Dec -26.393°
Catalogue: HIP 34444 · HD 54605

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Other stars in Canis Major

Canis Major has 90 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 90 stars in Canis Major